High yields from crops are dependent upon the combination of adequate water, nutrients, and genetics. However, it is not as simple as merely adding water and nutrients and expecting high yields. Understanding the causes for yield reductions and differences among systems for efficiency of water, nutrient, and light use provide insights into how yields can be increased and sustained. Strategies can be developed to increase yields but require a complete evaluation of all aspects of the cropping system.

Dr. Jerry L. Hatfield is the Laboratory Director of the USDA-ARS National Soil Tilth Laboratory in Ames, Iowa. He received his Ph.D. from Iowa State University in 1975 in the area of Agricultural Climatology and Statistics a M.S. in Agronomy from the University of Kentucky in 1972, and B.S. from Kansas State University in Agronomy in 1971. He served on the faculty of the University of California-Davis as a biometeorologist from 1975 through 1983 and then joined USDA-Agricultural Research Service in Lubbock, Texas as the Research Leader of the Plant Stress and Water Conservation Research Unit from 1983 through 1989. He was appointed Laboratory Director of the National Soil Tilth Laboratory in 1989. His responsibilities have included the management of the laboratory research program and technical oversight of the multi-location, multi-agency environmental quality program to assess the impact of farming systems on environmental quality and the development of a quality assurance/quality control data for the analytical portion of the project. The results of these studies have been extended in several watershed efforts in the Midwest to evaluate the impact of farming systems on surface and groundwater quality caused by nutrient and pesticide movement. Dr. Hatfield currently serves as the Technical Leader for the air quality projects within USDA-ARS and responsible for fostering interactions among research locations and is co-leader of the Air Quality Working Group of the USDA-EPA AFO Research Task Force. He served on the Governors Water Quality Task Force in Iowa to evaluate potential solutions to water quality solutions. He is currently serving as the Scientific Quality Review Officer for USDA-ARS and is responsible for the management of the project review process for all research projects within ARS. He serves as the USDA-ARS representative to the Heinz Center project on the State of the Nation’s Ecosystems, the Key Indicators Initiative, and National Audubon society project on Waterbirds on Working Lands. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America and is President-Elect of the American Society of Agronomy. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Soil and Water Conservation Society. He is the author or co-author of 336 publications and the editor of 10 monographs including Nitrogen in the Environment: Sources, Problems and Management.